NF

These memoirs of the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo are quite entertaining and do not include too much technical detail. Previous to making this trip, he apparently had saved his wife and children by taking them 500 miles in a canoe - I look forward to reading that story soon! ( )

Readable and light-hearted account of his round the world sailing trip. He was the first to do it alone in the late 1890s, starting from New England and on to Europe, etc. He spent a lot of time on land at various places so it took him over three years. Endnotes and glossary at the end help you keep up with his references, slang, and sailing terms. Worthwhile. ( )

Born in Nova Scotia, Slocum was a naturalized American. He set off alone in 1895 and spent three years circumnavigaing the world in The Spray, a 37 foot sloop he mostly built himself. This is his personal account published in 1900. It was fun to read this with a map nearby to follow his route and the remote islands he visited. He didn't inflate his terrific achievement or what he endured apart from saying a couple of times that he felt a bit lonely. Curiously, the account had little about the actual sailing, but concentrated on places and people he met. The journey was not without events: he celebrated Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee while in Queensland, Australia and in Samoa met with Fanny, wife of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Off the coast of Australia he encountered a whaling ship, a trade new to the seas at the time. The captain assured the crew that to kill a whale was "no different than killing a rabbit". It's only to be expected that the writing is dated and definitely not PC, but it's still an interesting memoir and it set the bar high for the explorers that followed.

This is one of several books my son's friend John mailed to me as lockdown entertainment. ( )

Memoir of a man's circumnavigation of the world all alone, in a sloop (sail boat) built almost by himself, in the 1890s, what is not to like about this book? The idea itself is so fantastic that reading the account written by the man himself feels surreal. Except for the profusion of sailing jargon, the book is very well written, holding the reader's interest. This book is one of the greatest adventures I have read, more so because it is all true! ( )